Older Bolder Life

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Chinese

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: General Tso’s Chicken

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We had an interesting food planning issue arise a few weeks back; friends popped in to spend an afternoon on very short notice. They were travelling through, wanted to stop and chat for a bit, with that “chat” burning through an entire afternoon and then creeping into early evening.

The husband of the couple visiting tried to make the case that we should order out Chinese, something made nigh on impossible given our location “out in the sticks” on the edge of the sprawling DFW metro.

After a bit of hemming and hawing, I convinced the crowd to let me stir up a batch of this General Tso’s Chicken at home, sacrificing a little on our strictest Primal framework by using potato starch as a crisping agent for the chicken, and a bit of sugar in the sauce. [Sometimes when entertaining such compromises end up being made to suit guest’s more conventional palates, though I’ve found over the years that with a bit of common sense and moderation applied, these comprises aren’t problematic at all in the bigger picture of things.]

Using potato starch as a crisping agent for the chicken works remarkably well, as well as the more classic cornstarch used in Chinese cooking for years, at least IMHO, and the flavors imparted by the garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, and Chinkiang vinegar are amazingly good, allowing you to cook toe-to-toe with very good take-out food you might have enjoyed in the past.

Besides the great taste and wonderful presentation this recipe affords, another real plus is the easy prep and quick final cook when you’ve got everything lined up and ready.

Tipping our hat to our non-Primal / non-Paleo guests I cooked up a batch of conventional rice to go along with the delicious sauce produced, and a big tub of steamed broccoli florets. Hot damn, this one’s really good.

1.5 pounds boneless skinless thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 T + 1 t avocado or other mild tasting oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 scant t good salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup (scant) potato starch

2/3 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1/4 cup Chinkiang vinegar
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
6 T sugar
2 T cornstarch

4-5 T avocado or mild, healthy oil of choice
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 and 1/2 T minced fresh ginger
7-8 Chinese chili peppers

Prep the chicken, place in a small bowl with the oil and salt; set aside for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, set aside. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and ginger.

When ready to cook, preheat a heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat. While the skillet is heating, stir the beaten egg into the chicken mixture, then stir in the cornstarch until it’s evenly coating the chicken.

Heat the oil in the preheated pan until just smoking, then add the chicken all at once in a single layer (separate if needed with tongs or a fork). Cook for 3 minutes or so until the bottom is golden, then turn and cook another 3 minutes or so. Remove the pan from the heat for 3 minutes.

Now place your skillet back over medium heat and add the chilies, ginger, and garlic to the oil remaining in the pan; cook for 1-2 minutes. Now add the stirred sauce to the skillet; stir now again as it cooks and thickens.

When the sauce has sufficiently thickened, add the chicken, stirring well to coat everything with the sauce. Remove from the heat and serve RIGHT NOW!

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

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As the weather begins to cool even the slightest bit (dammit, it was 98 last Sunday here in North Texas) with the arrival of the early fall season, my lovely wife has begun to pester me a bit to queue up some of our favorite stir fry recipes in the upcoming meal plan.

This Spicy Cashew Chicken Stir Fry, easily made with toasted hazelnuts if you’d rather, is one that we’ve been cooking as a family for over two decades now, it’s quick, simple, and once you have some elemental oriental sauces in the pantry and fridge, doesn’t require a special trip to hunt down any rare or unusual ingredients.

Granted, this is very much not an authentic Chinese stir fry recipe; it’s very much Americanized, and offered without apology otherwise.

We love to load this one up with lots of fresh mushrooms and the spicy peppers, which impart so much more flavor to the dish if you stir fry them alone for a few minutes before adding in the mushrooms and green onions.

The fresh juice adds an impressive flavor boost and a burst of needed acidity; unless you’re running insanely tight on your carb intake, by all means don’t think twice about juicing that tangerine or orange for the recipe. And by the way, Nom Nom Paleo has a nice compliant hoisin sauce if you’re concerned about that ingredient as well.

We’ve taken this recipe all around the Northern Rockies camping with the family; just pack up the marinated chicken in a container, the wok sauce in another, and the fresh vegetables in a third. Easy peasy, and you’ll impress the hell out of your fellow campers / river runners / cross-country skiers / picnic buddies on the road.

Make as big a batch as you dare, it’s great left over and reheated too.

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts or cashews
14-15 medium button mushrooms
6-8 green onions, trimmed
12-15 dried Chile de Arbol chiles
1/4 cup avocado oil

Wok Sauce
1/3 cup freshly squeezed tangerine or orange juice
1/4 cup Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp tangerine/orange zest, minced

Cut the chicken into thin strips in bitesized lengths and add to a bowl with the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, wine or sherry, and minced garlic. Stir to mix well, cover and marinate for up to 8 hours.

Toast the nuts in a 325 oven; watch carefully so they don’t burn.

When ready to cook, clean, trim, and quarter the mushrooms, and slice the green onions into 1-inch long pieces on a sharp diagonal.

Heat your trusty wok over high heat, add 1/2 the oil, and just when beginning to give off a little smoke, stir fry the chicken until it changes color; remove to a plate when done.

Reheat the wok, add the rest of the oil, and add the chiles, stirring for a minute before adding the remainder of the vegetables. Stir fry until the mushrooms just begin to soften and the green onions brighten in color (2-3 minutes).

Now stir in the wok sauce, the chicken, and the nuts, keeping things moving until all ingredients are well coated and the sauce has thickened a bit. Taste and adjust the seasonings, then serve hot on heated plates, platters, or bowls.

Enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Easy Mu Shu Pork Cheat

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This has become one of our favorite family quick stir fries, and it has a bit of history behind it as I shared several years on ChiWulff (a fly fishing blog) –

Our clan fell in love with the classic Chinese dish Mu Shu Pork believe it or not when camping at Gros Ventre campground out of Jackson a few decades back.

It became a must-do ritual to drive up from SLC, set up camp as quickly as possible, and then beat it back to town for dinner at the Lame Duck. The little hole in the wall place was down East Broadway, past the hospital almost to the end of the road where the branch to the Elk Refuge peels off. I don’t know how many times we ate there with the kids as they grew up; we even got to know one of the waitresses pretty well one summer.

The Duck’s long gone now, a victim of Jackson’s (unfortunate in many ways) transformation, though the memory of great dinners past lingers. They had the best sizzling rice soup any of us have ever tasted, and among many other delights – a great Mu Shu Pork.

We’ve tried over the years to recreate the dish; we’ve come close but never hit it on the money and haven’t tried for years now – until this quick (kinda’ve a cheater) version came across our radar a few weeks ago.

She Who Must Be Obeyed has been out of town all week on business and I can knock this entire prep out in under 20 minutes now (after a few practice rounds), given how it’s based off using an (at least partially) pre-seasoned commercial sausage you bring to life with some minced ginger and garlic…

With even the most basic of knife skills you can chop your way through this recipe in less than 10 minutes, and then you basically just sauté everything up in a large skillet, preferably a big-assed cast iron one.

As per the images attached, we most often enjoy this one hot right out of the pan, drizzled with sriracha or a paleo version of hoisin sauce. Classically the dish is served with small rice flour “pancakes”, which you can easily sub with any of the low-carb tortillas on the market today.

1 and 1/2 pounds commercial hot Italian sausage (casing removed)
2 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, minced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
Avocado oil or EVOO
7-8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced thin
3-4 ounces wood ear mushrooms, sliced thin
8-9 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced, divided
1 large bunch green onions, trimmed and sliced into 1-in pieces, reserve 1/3 of total
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp good tamari or coconut aminos
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
Butter or other lettuce leaves

Optional
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and cut into matchsticks
Sriracha, primal/paleo hoisin sauce, low-carb wraps

To get started, mince the fresh ginger and garlic and add to the sausage in a small bowl; work in evenly with your hands.

Heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a large cast iron skillet over med-high heat and brown the sausage mixture well, breaking it up into a small-medium crumble as you go. When it’s done, remove to a clean plate, reserving the drippings in the skillet.

Without reducing the heat, sauté the trimmed mushrooms in the drippings, you want them to release a bit of liquid, then brown and crisp up a bit (4 to 5 minutes should do it).

Now add half the sliced cabbage, the bamboo shoots and 2/3’s of the green onions: keep things moving until the cabbage is wilted. Now add the rice vinegar and soy sauce and simmer quickly until the liquid is for the most part reduced (won’t take but 2 or 3 minutes).

Remove from the heat and add the remaining cabbage and green onions, sprinkle the sesame seeds and oil over and stir it all in.

Serve hot in your lettuce wraps (or the wrap of your choice) slathered with Sriracha or your favorite primal/paleo hoisin.

Enjoy.